Engadget Podcast 120 - 12.05.2008

2Wire's announced a 7-inch square set-top box designed to "bridge television and the internet." Called MediaPoint, it seems to be nearly identical to every media streamer we've seen -- it will multitask as a digital media player that delivers HD video and access streaming media on your home network via broadband. The box will boast HDMI ouput, WiFi, USB expansion, UPnP and DLNA compatibility. Sounds unbelievably enticing, right? Well, unlike most media streamers, you'll have to buy MediaPoint through a broadband service provider which will distribute the boxes under their own branding, and you'll presumably have to pay a subscription fee -- hopefully so you can enjoy some WWE Raw. Wow! So a product that's pretty much the same as a bunch of things that already exist, but we get to deal with a cable / internet service provider? Sounds fun, where do we sign up? They're expected to be available "very soon" though there's no word on pricing plans for the box or the subscriptions.